The Abuse in a Violently Different Dimension
By VG Jekyll
Not Beta Read

36. Ode To My Family

Understand what I've become, it wasn't my design
And people everywhere think, something better than I am
But I miss you, I miss, 'cause I liked it,
'Cause I liked it, when I was out there.

It was finally weekend and the brothers Potter had plans to sneak out of Hogwarts.

Jacob claimed to have arranged an alibi for the both of them. In case students or professors were to ask about them, his best friend, Romilda Vane, would tell people that they were bonding somewhere in the castle and playing chess or so.

It was a good excuse, since their so called animosity had been known throughout the student body. And some people must have noticed that since Christmas the two had been closer and every once in a while hung out together. Jacob also tried to get harry to fly with him again on the Quidditch pitch when it was empty. Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to go there; it could draw more attention to him. And he'd just agreed with Jay to try to keep a low profile.

Jacob's original intentions were to take school brooms from the shed and use those to get to Hogsmeade. Harry argued against those, claiming that there could be tracers on them. It also happened to be that he knew a better way of getting to the wizarding village.

He brought his little brother to where previously the statue of the One-Eyed Witch had been. Earlier that week, he'd checked if it was still there. It wasn't. Instead he found the statue of a Goblin with a wand raised high above his head. Furthermore, the whole hallway was hung with tapestries portraying the Goblin Rebellions of the seventeenth and eighteenth century.

Harry had laughed when he'd noticed it, thinking that Professor Binns would have been ecstatic too see it.

Curiously enough, it still worked as the entrance to a secret passageway. It had taken him quite a few tries to figure out what he had to do, resulting in a hilarious scene-to which there was thankfully no public-of Harry fondling a statue and yelling Dissendium at it. He finally discovered that he had to slip the wand out of the statue's hand and combine that with the charm.

As soon as he did, a small hole appeared in the wall behind it. And when he placed it in the goblin's long-fingered hand again, the hole slowly closed. It gave him just enough time to dive after his brother into the passageway.

Jacob already had muttered a Lumos and his wand was spreading a small amount of light around that lit up the walls beside them. Harry figured they could need some more light, you never know what they could encounter, and made his wand trace the familiar loop of the Lumos charm in the air, but muttered Lumos Maxima.

The brighter light shone deep into the corridor and Harry was glad to see there were hardly any obstructions. Just a lot of spider webs and loose rocks on the uneven floor. Beside him, Jacob let out a short holler that echoed through the hallway and Harry nudged him sharply.

"Don't do that!" he chastised him. "We don't know how far the sound carries!"

Jacob seemed unabashed and grinned. His teeth reflected the light. "This is awesome! As a kid I was always hoping to find secret paths in the forest near our house, but this is even better! Where does it lead to?"

Harry chuckled. "The basement of Honeydukes."

"Are you serious? That's so freaking cool! Free candy!"

"Hey, stealing is not okay. We're not gonna take anything."

"I could leave money?"

"No."

"Geesh, stick up your-"

Harry narrowed his eyes at the imprudent brat. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," mumbled Jacob and Harry couldn't stop a grin from spreading on his face. He ruffled with a hand through the kid's hair and then went in front. He didn't think Jacob was afraid of spiders, but all his time spend with Ron had made it almost instinct to brave spider webs for his friend's sake.

The long walk to Honeydukes was spend with some talk about what jay had done that week, and Harry listened content. Jacob told him about how Luna Lovegood had offered him a strange talisman as a friendship gift and he was not sure what to do with it.

Harry was simply glad that she at least had Jacob and also himself to rely on. Maybe he should give her something nice too. He should try to remember what charm Hermione had used on those coins to assemble DA. Maybe he could give her something like that.

They arrived at Honeydukes and sneaked out without an incident, something which had been easy enough with all the people shopping there. Using the floo of The Three Broomsticks was a bit trickier and Harry was glad they wore normal clothing, for their uniforms would certainly have stood out.

Since Jacob knew where they had to go, Harry made him go first. He was surprised to hear the name of the street, but then he took a deep breath and whispered the address. "66 Baker Street."

As he should have expected from his earlier travels by floo, he found himself stumbling out of the hearth, only to bump into Jacob's back. This made the kid stumble too and Jacob jabbed with an elbow in Harry's stomach. "Watch out!" Jacob said as Harry used him to keep standing upright. Harry nearly lost his footing again as Jacob stepped out of his grasp and into the arms of no other than Remus Lupin.

"Uncle Moony! I missed you!" Jacob said as he clung onto the man. Remus looked over the boy's shoulder at Harry and smiled warmly.

"I missed you too," he replied to the greeting. His words were clearly meant for both of the boys and Harry wondered how long it had actually been since the werewolf last saw Jacob and this world's Harry.

Since he was now hugging Jacob, it gave Harry the time to give him a once over. He looked only vaguely like Professor Lupin he'd know. This version of him certainly seemed healthier and better fed. His robes didn't have tears or mends and even his hair lacked the grey hairs he had gotten accustomed too, but that could as well be a glamour.

The thing that stood out the most was the intercession in his left brow. Almost as if he had a nearly invisible scar there that deterred any hairs of growing there. Remus amber eyes were still on Harry, as Jacob finally stepped away from him, and he took a step closer.

"Hello Harry," Remus said warmly and then ever so slightly scrunched up his nose as if smelling something strange.

Shite! Werewolves have better senses right? Can he smell a difference?

But the moment was soon gone and then Harry found himself in the man's arms. He'd never been really close to Professor Lupin, but he supposed that this world's Harry had been before the break with his parents. It would only be kind to return the friendly embrace.

When he was released from the embrace, he quickly stepped aside and glanced around the small foyer. He had expected to see this world's Sirius, but the man was nowhere to be found. Remus seemed to have noticed his searching gaze and patted his back. He also pulled Jacob closer as he started to lead them to another room.

"Sirius is in the kitchen," he explained the unasked question.

"Why did he not greet us at the floo?" Jacob asked a bit hurt.

"He's preparing you hot chocolate, knowing you had to travel through the cold to get here. You ungrateful brat."

"Oh, I'm grateful!" Jacob quickly countered and then bolted to the kitchen, which he apparently still knew how to find. They heard him yell a loud greeting. When they entered, he was hugging Sirius from behind, while trying to steal some cookies off a plate on the counter.

This Sirius looked so much like Harry's, that it almost made him cry. The man himself seemed just as emotional at their union and for a moment the two simply stared at each other.

"Hello Harry," Sirius finally said, his voice so achingly familiar. Harry had a hard time not running at him, like Jacob had done before.

Not your Sirius! He is not the one you knew, even though they look so much alike. Keep them apart.

Sirius looked uncomfortable as Harry still didn't make a move towards him and then turned to the counter to grab the mugs of hot chocolate. He passed one to Jacob and reached out to offer Harry his. Harry was grateful for the warmth and nearly inhaled the smell, glad with it's short distraction.

Remus walked past him to Sirius side. He glanced in passing at Harry's cup and seemed to sniff again. He turned to Sirius. "Did you put sugar in it?" he asked. Sirius' nod made Remus laugh softy. "Harry never has enjoyed sugar in his chocolate," he lovingly scolded the man and Sirius looked dismayed at that remark.

He then stared apologetic at Harry. "I'm sorry Harry. I forgot? I'm really sorry! I'll make you a new one," he promised and reached out for the mug. Harry shrugged and smiled tentatively.

"Don't worry. I recently started drinking it with sugar, so I've gotten used to it. Its no problem really." It was of course not true and Harry had always had an enormous sweet-tooth, but this Sirius seemed so conscious of himself and emotional. Harry had the funny desire to make the man feel at ease.

His Sirius had never been like that. Well, he had had a temper and was quick to jump from emotion to emotion, but he never had seemed so uncertain of himself. It bothered Harry more than seeing how Remus had to rub comforting circles on the man's back as they travelled to the living room. Perhaps this world's Harry had said some very hurtful things to Sirius last time they'd met?

Harry left Jacob and Remus to lead the talk, occasionally adding in his dime, but mostly just listening. Sirius was silent and held a constant gaze on Harry. He send a small smile in Harry's way whenever their gazes crossed paths, but overall it felt quite uncomfortable.

"Your hair has grown longer," Remus suddenly commented and was about to swipe with a hand through Harry's hair, but the boy ducked away. He had taken great care not to let anyone notice his scar and the longer hair had helped, mostly. Not even Lily or James had noticed it.

The conversation stayed on safe subjects, though Harry longed to find out how exactly James and Lily had stopped the contact. And how Sirius and Remus had actually gotten together, but he couldn't get himself to throw the pebble in that metaphorical pond.

When at one moment, Harry held Sirius gaze for a bit longer than before, the man suddenly jumped up. He mumbled something below his breath after which he literally fled the room. Remus was quick to follow with with an apology and left the two brothers alone in the living room.

"What the hell just happened?" Jacob asked Harry, who shrugged and told Jacob to stay put. Harry stood up too and went after them. They weren't that hard to find as Sirius had fled into the nearest empty room. They also hadn't thought to put up a silencing charm either and the door was ajar.

"-know it's hard, Siri." He heard Remus speak. "But I am already grateful they tried to get into contact with us in the first place. This is your chance to get to know them!"

A quick peek through the crack of the door showed how Remus was holding Sirius, who was crying. It was a heartbreaking thing to see him like this. His Sirius never had wept, not like this, yet it made Harry's chest feel tight and painful. The man clung onto Remus, who rubbed him comforting over his back again.

"He looks so much like him! Even his eyes-" Sirius sobbed miserably. "Even the look in his eyes is nearly identical! Merlin, I miss him, Remy. I miss him so much!"

Remus let him cry on his shoulder and grieve. And Harry felt bad for this Sirius who had lost his best friend all because of James his bigotry and prejudices. And he hated James in that moment. He hated him for discarding a friendship like that.

He hated James, for Harry' Sirius had laid his own life on the line to get revenge on Peter for betraying James and Lily. And James had thrown that friendship away as if it was worth nothing. Maybe he shouldn't have come. This Sirius already seemed like an emotional wreck. It would be mean to make him endure more.

Sirius kept mumbling into Remus shoulder, though his tears seemed to have dried up. He was now forlorn. "What if Bellatrix got to him too, Remy? What if she killed him? I will never know..."

Harry stilled and his body seemed to grow colder as he realized what Sirius was actually saying.

"I was his Godfather, Remy! I escaped Azkaban for him, yet I was not able to help him against that bitch of a cousin of mine!"

At those words, Harry tugged the door wide open, making both grown-ups look started at him. He stared shocked from the doorway of the room at them. The name that left his mouth was the one that Hermione had thought up. One that Sirius normally wouldn't be called by in this world.

"Snuffles...?"

To Be Continued

VGJekyll: I always intended to have Sirius be OURSirius. Death By Veil was NOT an option. And, yeah, I cried a lot while reading that, even though everyone had already spoiled it months before I got to read the book.

I feel bad about the long time periods between updates, yet you people still read it! I love you guys. Truly, I do.

[Ode to my Family – Cranberries]